Peacebuilding a shared Northern Irish society
Martin honours Mallon’s legacy with ‘Shared Home Place’ programmeby Allan LEONARD22 July 2025 The Navan Centre and Fort recently hosted an event, organised by the John & Pat Hume Foundation, to celebrate the memory and legacy of the respected Irish politician, Seamus Mallon, with a lecture by Ireland Taoiseach Micheál Martin TD. This was followed by a... Continue Reading →
‘What is the peace?’ Rethinking Northern Irish photography from the Troubles and beyondby Allan LEONARD25 June 2025 The latest series of talks at the Photo Museum Ireland featured an insightful lecture by Colin Graham, a professor of English and an accomplished author. The evening’s discussion centred around the intricate subject of Northern Irish photography, with a particular focus on its... Continue Reading →
Peace photography: supporting conflict transformationby Allan LEONARD13 June 2025 At an online session organised by Dr Tiffany Fairey, a senior research fellow at King’s College London, participants gathered to explore the intersection of photography and peace. The event brought together a range of experts and practitioners to discuss how photography can foster cultures of peace... Continue Reading →
The vital role of archives for reconciliationby Allan LEONARD12 June 2025 Archives serve as repositories of our collective memory, housing documents, artefacts, and other historical materials that help societies understand their past. In a recent panel discussion, experts from various fields came together to discuss the significance of archives in reconciliation processes, including how community... Continue Reading →
Exploring cultural peace work in Northern Irelandby Allan LEONARD15 May 2025 Cultural peace work entails using creative and cultural practices to foster peace and reconciliation, particularly in post-conflict societies. In Northern Ireland, various organisations and individuals are harnessing the power of arts and culture to address deep-seated issues from a history of sectarian violence. In... Continue Reading →
The future of public service media in Northern Ireland and beyondby Allan LEONARD9 May 2025 Ulster University (UU) held an important discussion on the role and future of public service media. Key speakers included Phil Ramsey (lecturer in media studies (UU), Siobhan Walsh (director of content policy (Ofcom)), and Catherine Johnson (professor of media and... Continue Reading →
Shared histories: diverse images and stories of the borderlandsby Allan LEONARD21 March 2025 Images from family photo albums adorned the walls and hanging banners in an immersive pop-up exhibition that celebrated the culmination of a cultural initiative aimed at engaging communities on both sides of the Ireland–Northern Ireland border. Shared Histories: Diverse Views is a... Continue Reading →
‘A feasible bite out of a big apple’: outcomes from ARINS/Irish Times North–South surveys 2024by Allan LEONARD13 March 2025 The ARINS (Analysing and Researching Ireland, North and South) project recently held its first event in Belfast, focusing on constitutional futures and the socio-political landscape of a potential United Ireland. After a keynote presentation by Professor... Continue Reading →
‘It’s not about quotas’: integrated education adapting to new social contextsby Allan LEONARD4 March 2025 The 2025 Dunleath Lecture, hosted by the Northern Ireland Council for Integrated Education (NICIE), delved deeply into the ongoing challenges and evolving perspectives surrounding integrated education in Northern Ireland. Held at Ulster University’s Belfast campus, the event featured key speeches from notable figures... Continue Reading →
Monitoring peace progress in Northern Ireland: a wellbeing frameworkby Allan LEONARD4 March 2025 While much of the media coverage of the launch of the Northern Ireland Executive’s latest Programme for Government (PfG) rightly focused on the specific, quantifiable targets (or lack thereof), a complementary “wellbeing framework”, with dozens of regularly updated metrics, has received little comment. The... Continue Reading →
Belfast Stores: a vision for inclusivity and growthby Allan LEONARD13 February 2025 Organised by NICVA, about 20 members of the voluntary, community, and social enterprise sector toured the landmark art-deco former Bank of Ireland building at the top of Royal Avenue, to learn more about Belfast City Council’s Belfast Stories, a project that will be a public... Continue Reading →
Peacemakers’ ball: woven Belfast storiesby Allan LEONARD8 February 2025 In coloured chalk on a black board, a sign outside Belfast’s city centre communal space at 2 Royal Avenue invited passersby to come in and participate in Peacemakers, a craft exercise to make stitches with alternating colours of yarn on an oversized French loom, then return to... Continue Reading →